How to Improve Your Memory Tips and Exercises to Sharpen Your Mind and Boost Brainpower Facebook Icon

Twitter Icon Pinterest Icon Memory & Aging: Improving Your Memory A strong memory depends on the health and vitality of your brain. Whether you're a student studying for final exams, a working professional interested in doing all you can to stay mentally sharp, or a senior looking to preserve and enhance your grey matter as you age, there are lots of things you can do to improve your memory and mental performance. Harnessing the power of your brain They say that you can t teach an old dog new tricks, but when it comes to the brai n, scientists have discovered that this old adage simply isn t true. The human bra in has an astonishing ability to adapt and change even into old age. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. With the right stimulation, your brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changi ng ways. The brain s incredible ability to reshape itself holds true when it comes to learn ing and memory. You can harness the natural power of neuroplasticity to increase your cognitive abilities, enhance your ability to learn new information, and im prove your memory. Improving memory tip 1: Don't skimp on exercise or sleep Just as an athlete relies on sleep and a nutrition-packed diet to perform his or her best, your ability to remember increases when you nurture your brain with a good diet and other healthy habits. When you exercise the body, you exercise the brain Treating your body well can enhance your ability to process and recall informati on. Physical exercise increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk for di sorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. E xercise may also enhance the effects of helpful brain chemicals and protect brai n cells. Improve your memory by sleeping on it When you re sleep deprived, your brain can t operate at full capacity. Creativity, p roblem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills are compromised. Whether you re studying, working, or trying to juggle life s many demands, sleep deprivation is a recipe for disaster. But sleep is critical to learning and memory in an even more fundamental way. Re search shows that sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, with the key memo ry-enhancing activity occurring during the deepest stages of sleep. Improving memory tip 2: Make time for friends and fun When you think of ways to improve memory, do you think of serious activities such as wrestling with the New York Times crossword puzzle or mastering chess strateg y, or do more lighthearted pastimes hanging out with friends or enjoying a funny m ovie come to mind? If you re like most of us, it s probably the former. But countless studies show that a life that s full of friends and fun comes with cognitive benef its. Healthy relationships: the ultimate memory booster? Humans are highly social animals. We re not meant to survive, let alone thrive, in isolation. Relationships stimulate our brains in fact, interacting with others ma y be the best kind of brain exercise. Research shows that having meaningful relationships and a strong support system are vital not only to emotional health, but also to brain health. In one recent

study from the Harvard School of Public Health, for example, researchers found t hat people with the most active social lives had the slowest rate of memory decl ine. There are many ways to start taking advantage of the brain and memory-boosting b enefits of socializing. Volunteer, join a club, make it a point to see friends m ore often, or reach out over the phone. And if a human isn t handy, don t overlook t he value of a pet especially the highly-social dog. Laughter is good for your brain You ve heard that laughter is the best medicine, and that holds true for the brain as well as the body. Unlike emotional responses, which are limited to specific areas of the brain, laughter engages multiple regions across the whole brain. Furthermore, listening to jokes and working out punch lines activates areas of t he brain vital to learning and creativity. As psychologist Daniel Goleman notes in his book Emotional Intelligence, laughter seems to help people think more broadl y and associate more freely. Looking for ways to bring more laughter in your life? Start with these basics: Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take ourselv es less seriously is to talk about the times when we took ourselves too seriousl y. When you hear laughter, move toward it. Most of the time, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it. When you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, What s funny? Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily both at the mselves and at life s absurdities and who routinely find the humor in everyday event s. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious. Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in yo ur car. Put up a funny poster in your office. Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your family or friends having fun. Pay attention to children and emulate them. They are the experts on playing, tak ing life lightly, and laughing. Improving memory tip 3: Keep stress in check Stress is one of the brain s worst enemies. Over time, if left unchecked, chronic stress destroys brain cells and damages the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones. The stress-busting, brain-boosting benefits of meditation The scientific evidence for the mental health benefits of meditation continues t o pile up. Studies show that meditation helps improve many different types of co nditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic pain, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Meditation also can improve focus, concentration, creativity, and lear ning and reasoning skills. Meditation works its magic by changing the actual brain. Brain images show that re gular meditators have more activity in the left prefrontal cortex, an area of th e brain associated with feelings of joy and equanimity. Meditation also increase s the thickness of the cerebral cortex and encourages more connections between b rain cells all of which increases mental sharpness and memory ability. Depression and anxiety can also affect memory In addition to stress, depression, anxiety, and chronic worrying can also take a heavy toll on the brain. In fact, some of the symptoms of depression and anxiet y include difficulty concentrating, making decisions, and remembering things. If you are mentally sluggish because of depression or anxiety, dealing with the pr oblem will make a big difference in your cognitive abilities, including memory.

Improving memory tip 4: Eat a brain-boosting diet Just as the body needs fuel, so does the brain. You probably already know that a diet based on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats (such as olive oil, nuts, fish) and lean protein will provide lots of health benefits, but such a di et can also improve memory. But for brain health, it s not just what you eat it s also what you don t eat. The following nutritional tips will help boost your brainpowe r and reduce your risk of dementia: Get your omega-3s. More and more evidence indicates that omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial for brain health. Fish is a particularly rich source of omega-3, especially cold water fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, halibut, trout, m ackerel, sardines, and herring. In addition to boosting brainpower, eating fish may also lower your risk of developing Alzheimer s disease. If you re not a fan of s eafood, consider non-fish sources of omega-3s such as walnuts, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, winter squash, kidney and pinto beans, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, and soybeans. Limit calories and saturated fat. Research shows that diets high in saturated fa t (from sources such as red meat, whole milk, butter, cheese, sour cream, and ic e cream) increase your risk of dementia and impair concentration and memory. Eat ing too many calories in later life can also increase your risk of cognitive imp airment. Talk to your doctor or dietician about developing a healthy eating plan . Eat more fruit and vegetables. Produce is packed with antioxidants, substances t hat protect your brain cells from damage. Colorful fruits and vegetables are par ticularly good antioxidant "superfood" sources. Try leafy green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, and arugula, and fruit such as bananas, apricots, mangoes, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Drink green tea. Green tea contains polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that prot ect against free radicals that can damage brain cells. Among many other benefits , regular consumption of green tea may enhance memory and mental alertness and s low brain aging. Drink wine (or grape juice) in moderation. Keeping your alcohol consumption in c heck is key, since alcohol kills brain cells. But in moderation (around 1 glass a day for women; 2 for men), alcohol may actually improve memory and cognition. Red wine appears to be the best option, as it is rich in resveratrol, a flavonoi d that boosts blood flow in the brain and reduces the risk of Alzheimer s disease. Other resveratrol-packed options include grape juice, cranberry juice, fresh gr apes and berries, and peanuts. For mental energy, choose complex carbohydrates Just as a racecar needs gas, your brain needs fuel to perform at its best. When you need to be at the top of your mental game, carbohydrates can keep you going. But the type of carbs you choose makes all the difference. Carbohydrates fuel y our brain, but simple carbs (sugar, white bread, refined grains) give a quick bo ost followed by an equally rapid crash. There is also evidence to suggest that d iets high in simple carbs can greatly increase the risk for cognitive impairment in older adults. For healthy energy that lasts, choose complex carbohydrates su ch as whole-wheat bread, brown rice, oatmeal, high-fiber cereal, lentils, and wh ole beans. Avoid processed foods and limit starches (potato, pasta, rice) to no more than one quarter of your plate. Improving memory tip 5: Give your brain a workout By the time you ve reached adulthood, your brain has developed millions of neural pathways that help you process information quickly, solve familiar problems, and execute familiar tasks with a minimum of mental effort. But if you always stick to these well-worn paths, you aren t giving your brain the stimulation it needs t o keep growing and developing. You have to shake things up from time to time! Tr y taking a new route home from work or the grocery store, visiting new places at the weekend, or reading different kinds of books Memory, like muscular strength, requires you to use it or lose it. The more you wo rk out your brain, the better you ll be able to process and remember information.

The best brain exercising activities break your routine and challenge you to use and develop new brain pathways. Activities that require using your hands are a great way to exercise your brain. Playing a musical instrument, juggling, enjoyi ng a game of ping pong (table tennis), making pottery, knitting, or needlework a re activities that exercise the brain by challenging hand-eye coordination, spat ial-temporal reasoning, and creativity. The brain exercising activity you choose can be virtually anything, so long as i t meets the following three criteria: It s new. No matter how intellectually demanding the activity, if it s something you r e already good at, it s not a good brain exercise. The activity needs to be someth ing that s unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone. It s challenging. Anything that takes some mental effort and expands your knowledg e will work. Examples include learning a new language, instrument, or sport, or tackling a challenging crossword or Sudoku puzzle. It s fun. Physical and emotional enjoyment is important in the brain s learning proc ess. The more interested and engaged you are in the activity, the more likely yo u ll be to continue doing it and the greater the benefits you ll experience. The act ivity should be challenging, yes, it should also be something that is fun and en joyable to you. Make an activity more pleasurable by appealing to your senses play ing music while you do it, or rewarding yourself afterwards with a favorite trea t, for example. Use mnemonic devices to make memorization easier Mnemonics (the initial m is silent) are clues of any kind that help us remember so mething, usually by helping us associate the information we want to remember wit h a visual image, a sentence, or a word. Mnemonic device Example Visual image Associate a visual image with a word or name to help you remember t hem better. Positive, pleasant images that are vivid, colorful, and three-dimens ional will be easier to remember. To remember the name Rosa Parks and what she s known for, picture a woman sitting on a park bench surrounded by roses, waiting as her bus pulls up. Acrostic (or sentence) - Make up a sentence in which the first letter of each wo rd is part of or represents the initial of what you want to remember. The sentence Every good boy does fine to memorize the lines of the treble clef, re presenting the notes E, G, B, D, and F. Acronym An acronym is a word that is made up by taking the first letters of all the key words or ideas you need to remember and creating a new word out of them. The word HOMES to remember the names of the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. Rhymes and alliteration - Rhymes, alliteration (a repeating sound or syllable), and even jokes are a memorable way to remember more mundane facts and figures. The rhyme Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November to remember the mo nths of the year with only 30 days in them. Chunking Chunking breaks a long list of numbers or other types of information in to smaller, more manageable chunks. Remembering a 10-digit phone number by breaking it down into three sets of numbe rs: 555-867-5309 (as opposed to5558675309). Method of loci Imagine placing the items you want to remember along a route you know well or in specific locations in a familiar room or building. For a shopping list, imagine bananas in the entryway to your home, a puddle of m ilk in the middle of the sofa, eggs going up the stairs, and bread on your bed. Tips for enhancing your ability to learn and remember Pay attention. You can t remember something if you never learned it, and you can t l earn something that is, encode it into your brain if you don t pay enough attention to it. It takes about eight seconds of intense focus to process a piece of informa tion into your memory. If you re easily distracted, pick a quiet place where you w on t be interrupted.

Involve as many senses as possible. Try to relate information to colors, texture s, smells, and tastes. The physical act of rewriting information can help imprin t it onto your brain. Even if you re a visual learner, read out loud what you want to remember. If you can recite it rhythmically, even better. Relate information to what you already know. Connect new data to information you already remember, whether it s new material that builds on previous knowledge, or something as simple as an address of someone who lives on a street where you al ready know someone. For more complex material, focus on understanding basic ideas rather than memori zing isolated details. Practice explaining the ideas to someone else in your own words. Rehearse information you ve already learned. Review what you ve learned the same day you learn it, and at intervals thereafter. This spaced rehearsal is more effectiv e than cramming, especially for retaining what you ve learned. helpguide.org